The bindings came in the mail and i opened the box and noticed there was no manual and then proceeded to fit them to my boots which took about an hour to get them perfectly set up with the toe strap and centered in the binding. Every thing is tool less except for the toe strap adjustment and the toe ramp adjustment. relatively easy to figure everything out with out a manual and this is my first pair of union bindings.

Comfort:

I was a little worried about the toe strap as it didn't feel like it had much padding on it at all, and the reason i got these bindings is because my Ride Rx bindings were causing me lots of pain in the toe box area. Once i got out onto the snow and actually strapped in, i realized that the toe strap does not have to be cranked down very hard at all because it grips my boot very well, and it has only slipped on me once (my fault cause i didn't have my foot flat on the binding bed when i strapped in). I was pleasantly surprised by the toe strap as i was worried cause of all the people that complain about it. The Ankle strap is the most comfy one i have ever used (i have used Ride RXs and Technine icons).

Components:

the ratchets look and feel well built, but i do have to say union could step up their game on the toe ratchets, even though they were actually easier to release than my ride bindings.

The adjusting these bindings is really easy and i love the extending heel loop, that and the ankle strap are my two most fav things about these bindigns.

Response:

I have these on my park board and i really enjoyed them as i took em down some groomers, and honestly i don't notice any difference in a lack of response compared to my ride RX bindings. I also don't feel like they are the most soft bindings like everyone says they are, the high back is very flexy side to side, but as for heelside response they are not fold-in-half soft. (this may be cause these have diff highbacks compared to the normal contacts)

Cons:

I really like the look of these bindings, but the paint on the aluminum heel cup has chipped off on some places for some reason.

I think the toe ratchet could be better.

the screws on my ankle strap sometimes come loose when i am moving the strap around a lot. this only happened after i was adjusting the heel loop, maybe i have the screw in too tight or something. This only happens on the right binding however. I just have to make sure it is tight before i ride each day i guess.

I'm not sure i buy their minimal board to binding contact marketing stuff, it feels relatively the same compared to non-minimal contact bindings

does anyone else with unions have these problems?

Overall, i would def recommend these bindings as a nice complement to any park board and park oriented riding.

maybe you don't have the toe strap properly adjusted on the boot, cause mine stays in place without it needing to be very tight. but maybe the shape of your toe box has an effect on this, what boot do you wear? the binding should able to go as tight as you want it, i have a feeling it is not set up right.